


The Lion Knights

by KytheWolf



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Circus, Multi, lion trainer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-15 04:38:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13605693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KytheWolf/pseuds/KytheWolf
Summary: All his life, Lance has dreamed of working with wild animals, so when he applies to be a lion trainer at the Circus Alfor, it seems like the perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, in the shadows behind the Big Top, an evil plot is forming to steal the lions and turn them against their trainers. Can Lance and the others earn the lions’ trust in time, or will they all be lost to the dark mercy of the Galra?*currently on hold*





	1. Dreams Come True

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by NotEvenNightshade's fic [Fly With Blue](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12344403/chapters/28075572%22%22) go check it out!

Lance had been eight years old when he had decided that he wanted to become an animal trainer. He had been sitting in front of the TV, watching a program about lions in a circus, when he had turned to his mother and said, “I’m going to do that someday.” There had been something about the way man and beast moved, almost as if they shared one mind, that had really caught his imagination, but his mother, in the typical way that adults dismiss children’s bold dreams, had merely said, “that’s nice, dear,” and gone back to her chores, assuming that he would have forgotten about it by the next morning.

She had been wrong.

Instead, she had come into her son’s room to see Lance watching videos of lion trainers on his tablet, multiple other tabs open with searches such as, “how to be a lion trainer”, “how to train a lion”, “what qualifications do I need to be a lion trainer”, and even “lion cubs for sale”.

And that’s how it had all started.

Now, aged twenty-four, Lance was asleep in the living room of his apartment with his laptop on his knees, the screen still lit up with the email he had sent in response to a job opening as a lion trainer at the Circus Alfor. Moments later, the jingle heralding a new email sounded and Lance opened his eyes, a grin spreading across his face as he read the message and hastily typed out a reply.

As he clicked ‘send’, Lance sighed and leaned back, looking around the walls at the newspaper clips, drawings and handwritten lists that had left a trail along his timeline for the last sixteen years, everything leading up to this moment.

*

A few days later, Lance headed to the café where he had arranged to meet the ringmaster and owner of the Circus Alfor for his job interview. When he entered, they didn’t seem to have arrived yet, so he bought a coffee and sat down at a table next to the window, watching down the street.

After about five minutes, the bell over the door rang, and two people entered the café.

Lance assumed these must be the circus people because their clothes were so extravagant that, in Lance’s mind, only someone who worked in that kind of entertainment would even consider wearing something like that in public. In front was a young-looking woman with beautiful chocolatey skin and long white hair, wearing a long lilac coat over a pink and white body suit; behind her was a lighter-skinned man with ginger hair and the biggest, most well-groomed moustache Lance had ever seen, wearing a gold-lined blue suit jacket and knee-length black boots.

The woman glanced around and noticed Lance, pointing him out to the man and walking over.

“Hello,” she said, sitting down. “You must be Lance.”

“Uh, yes ma’am.” Lance shook her hand.

“I am Allura, the owner of Circus Alfor, and this,” she indicated the man next to her, “is Coran, the ringmaster.”

“Pleased to meet you, Lance,” Coran announced, also shaking his hand. “I’ll go and get us some coffees,” he added to Allura before moving away towards the counter.

When he looked back at Allura, Lance noticed that she had tiny tattoos like pink crescent Moons under her intense blue eyes, and the ears sticking out from under her hair were slightly pointed, like an elf’s.

“So,” she said, kindly but business-like, “why do you want to be a lion trainer for Circus Alfor?”

“Uh, well,” Lance began, “I’ve always wanted to work with lions, and when I saw your website you looked like a really friendly place.”

Allura smiled. “We try our best. Do you have any previous experience with lions?”

“I worked in a zoo for a while a few years back,” Lance answered, “feeding the big cats and even hand raising a couple of cubs when their mother died.”

Allura nodded, impressed, and shifted her chair over as Coran came back with their drinks. She took a sip, and then continued.

“At Circus Alfor, we will expect you to find your own way of working with your lion; we will not be telling you how to do things, because each lion is different. However, we do have a Head of Lions who you can ask if you need advice.”

“So…” Lance asked hesitantly, “are you offering me the job?”

“Yes.” Allura looked at Coran. “Is there anything else we need to say?”

Coran shook his head; Lance noticed that the ringmaster also had tattoos like Allura’s under his eyes, although his were blue. “I don’t think so. We’ll email you the details, but we should have a few other new trainers starting at the same time as you, so you won’t be alone.”

Lance nodded, grinning. “Thank you.”

“Good to meet you, Lance m’boy!” Coran said, wringing his hand. “As I said, we’ll send you the details later, but we look forward to seeing you work.”

Lance thanked them again, and Allura and Coran left the café.


	2. Welcome Aboard

Lance stopped outside the gates to the harbour, pulling the email Coran had sent him with the details up on his phone to check he had the right address. Through the bars, Lance could see several ships docked, but one of them stood out; it was huge and white, its surface covered in blue, pink and purple swirls and gold stars. Once he got closer, Lance could see a logo emblazoned on its side; a man wearing a lion skin over his head, with red and green arms, blue and yellow legs and a black body.

Hesitantly, Lance pushed open the gate and went in, hitching his backpack higher on his shoulder; Coran had told him he would be required to stay on the ship for a few days, so he had brought a bag with some essentials. As he wandered towards the ship, unsure where to go, a muscular young woman with dark skin came down the gangplank and jogged over to him, a friendly grin on her face.

“Hi!” she said, stopping next to him.

“Uh, hi,” Lance muttered cautiously; she was about a foot taller than him. “I’m Lance, I’m supposed to be starting a new position today…?”

“Are you one of the new lion trainers?” she asked eagerly. Lance nodded. “Oh, cool! Follow me, Coran’s expecting you. I’m Shay, by the way,” she added, leading him on board the ship.

“Nice to meet you,” Lance said, following her down the corridors. Then, to fill the silence, he asked, “Do you perform?”

“Yeah,” Shay grinned, “I’m the strong woman. I could lift you in one hand and throw you off the ship if I wanted to.”

“Uh…” Lance wasn’t sure what to say to that.

Shay turned and smiled at him. “I don’t want to, though, so there’s no need to panic. This is your room,” she added as they reached a wide corridor lined with cabins, and indicated a blue door marked with a lion’s head symbol.

“Thanks,” Lance murmured, taking the key card Shay offered him and sliding it through the lock. The light turned blue, and the door swung open. As Lance stepped over the threshold, his jaw dropped. “Wow.”

The room was about seven feet high from floor to ceiling, the walls each about twenty feet long; nothing like the typical cramped, matchbox-sized cabins you would find on most commercial ferries. The bed was set in a niche in the wall with plenty of space to sit up, and there was a walk-in closet and a small bathroom set into the wall next to it; bookshelves stretched the length of one wall; opposite the door, a simple desk and office chair sat beneath a picture window displaying an amazing view of the ocean.

“Not bad, is it?” Shay asked, smiling, as Lance dumped his bag on the bed. Lance nodded, moving to look around.

Once Lance had seen everything, Shay pulled him out of his trance, saying “Coran is expecting you in the lounge.” Lance nodded and followed her back out of the cabin, locking it with his new key card. Shay led him along more corridors, eventually coming to a large door. “This is the lounge. The others should be waiting for you in there.”

“Ok, thanks,” Lance gulped, nervous at the prospect of meeting new people.

“No problem. I’ll see you at dinner.” And with that, Shay was gone.

Lance entered the room to see four other people sitting around on sofas sunk into the floor in a circle. As he approached, a large man wearing a yellow headband turned to meet him.

“Hi!” he called cheerfully. “Are you here for the lions as well? I’m Hunk by the way,” he added, standing up and holding out his hand. Lance shook it. “Lance.”

One by one, the other trainers came to greet him. First was a well-built man who introduced himself as Shiro, and as Lance grasped his hand he was surprised to feel metal in place of flesh; a young woman with sandy-coloured hair introduced herself as Pidge, and Lance felt that although she was about a foot shorter than him, she was not someone to underestimate; finally, a black-haired man of about Lance’s own height and age said that his name was Keith, and only shook Lance’s hand reluctantly after a glare from Shiro.

Lance decided he didn’t much like Keith.

“Ah, Lance, jolly good!” Coran said, bustling into the room and wringing his hand. “Allura should be here soon with Voltron, and then you can meet your lions!”

“Who’s Voltron?” Lance asked.

“He’s responsible for the lions,” Coran explained. “He’ll be overlooking your training methods, making sure everyone’s safe, et cetera.”

At that moment, Allura, the circus owner, entered the room followed by a huge dark-skinned man wearing a sleeveless black workout shirt and army camo trousers.

“Right,” Allura announced, looking around at them all, “now that everyone’s here, you can meet your lions. This is Voltron, by the way,” she added, gesturing to the man behind her. “He’s the Head of Lions.”

Voltron moved forward to shake each of their hands in turn. “I hope you lot are ready,” he said in a voice as deep as the ocean, “because you’re about to start the hardest few days of your lives so far.” He grinned, and then started back towards the door. “Come meet your lions.”

The trainers glanced at each other, then followed him out of the room.


	3. Colours and Connections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honour of season 5, here's the next chapter. This is where things start getting spicy!

Voltron led them through yet more corridors, speaking all the while as though giving them a guided tour.

“The lions we have here are a different type to those you would typically find in Africa,” he said. “Our lions are a breed called Altean Warriors, which are bigger, stronger and more intelligent than African lions. In the ancient times, they were used like horses to carry soldiers into battle, which is where they get their name. Our lions are still young; only a couple of weeks old. They came to us a few days ago, which is why the training position became available.”

Eventually they reached a heavy-duty metal door with a keypad. Voltron punched in a number, and the door slid open. The trainers filed in to a small room containing only another door and a speaker.

“You will need to know your lions as well as you know yourselves,” Voltron commanded. “Learn who they are as people, and teach them as individuals. Because of this, we want you to build trust from your own instincts, not what someone else did, and you will not be allowed to watch what the others before you do. When I tell you, you will enter the training room and attempt to bond with your lion. If anyone looks to be in danger, I have a gun loaded with enough tranquilisers to knock out an elephant for two days, but I would prefer not to need it.”

With that vote of confidence, Voltron left the room. After a minute of uncomfortable silence, his voice came over the speaker, making them all jump.

“Lance, you’re up first.”

Lance gulped. “Um, ok…” He walked to the door of the training room and pressed the button to open it.

“Come on, Lance, you can do this!” Hunk cheered as Lance slipped through the door.

The training room was a large, oval room with a panel of thick glass on one wall; on the opposite side of the glass Lance could see Voltron, and on the wall behind him were five levers. On the floor of the training room, car tyres and bits of thick rope were strewn everywhere, and five crates were set into the back wall. Next to the door he had just come through, a row of hooks were hung with thick, coloured leather collars.

“Pick a collar,” Voltron ordered, “and I’ll open the crate.”

Lance picked up the blue collar, and Voltron pulled the first lever.

The door of the first crate opened with a thud, and a white cub emerged, looking around with wide, curious eyes. After a moment, he leapt at one of the tires and began rolling around with it, growling and biting it playfully. Lance took a step forward, his foot echoing on the metal floor, and the lion cub paused, lying on his back with the tyre on top of him, watching Lance upside-down as he circled the walls, spiralling inwards.

“Hey, buddy,” Lance murmured, moving carefully closer. “How’re you doing? D’you wanna be friends?” When he was about six feet away, Lance calmly sat down on the ground, cross-legged, consciously not making eye contact to appear unthreatening.

The cub rolled over onto his feet and approached cautiously, smelling the air. Lance stayed perfectly still as the lion moved around behind him and nudged him with his nose. The cub’s breath made the back of his neck itch like he expected to feel teeth on his skin, but Lance still didn’t move.

“D’you wanna be friends?” he repeated slowly as the lion circled around in front of him, sniffing his face.

Lance held his breath, tilting his head up to meet the lion’s eyes. They were blue; deep and sharp as ice.

Moments passed in silence, reading each other. Then, to Lance’s pleasant surprise, the lion chuffed and sat down, bowing his head in acceptance.

Lance grinned slowly, hesitantly reaching out his hand to stroke the cub’s soft white fur. The lion pushed his head against Lance’s hand, and allowed him to fasten the collar around his neck.

Voltron’s voice came over the speakers; “What’re you gonna name him, Lance?”

Lance looked back at the white cub’s blue eyes.

“Icer,” he told the man, and Voltron nodded appreciatively.

“Right,” he said, pressing the intercom for the room where the others were waiting, “who wants to go next?”

*

Lance returned Icer to his crate and went to join Voltron in the command room, turning to watch as Hunk entered the training room and picked up the yellow collar.

Hunk’s lion was bigger than Icer, a lot more bulky, with a slight under bite. His fur was tawny, and once Hunk had gained his trust by getting down on all fours and having a playful wrestling match, the yellow collar was fastened around his neck and he was named Yasi.

Pidge’s lion, the only female, was smaller and more elegant, also with tawny fur, and intelligent green eyes. Pidge’s approach to earning her trust was much the same as Lance’s had been with Icer; sitting down and letting the lion come to her. Pidge placed the green collar around her neck and named her Gwen.

When Keith entered the training room, the lion that came out of the fourth crate seemed a lot more on edge than the others had been. He was muscular like Yasi, but much leaner, with majestic deep gingery fur and dangerous amber eyes. As he approached Keith, he held his body low to the ground in a hunting stance, his lips drawn back over his teeth. Keith remained calm, holding eye contact with the lion and mimicking his posture as the two circled each other, the red collar held loosely in his hand. The lion growled, then leaped at Keith; but he was slowed down by the bulk of his cub’s body, and Keith just about had reaction time to roll out of the way, twisting effortlessly back onto his feet and resuming his strange dance with the lion.

Eventually, after a few more near misses, the lion lay down in submission, and Keith fastened the red collar around his neck, deciding to name him Dagger.

As Keith returned Dagger to his crate and entered the command room, Lance couldn’t help feeling impressed by his calm confidence and the way he moved around the lion…

That didn’t mean Lance liked him, though, obviously – he was just thinking from a professional point of view.

Shiro’s lion was large compared to the others, a week or so older according to Voltron. He was a deep, pure black with beautiful intense purple eyes. Shiro stayed standing; his hands holding the black collar limp by his sides, watching the lion move around the room, seemingly not taking notice of the man. Once the lion had decided there was nothing much of interest amongst the toys on the floor, he approached Shiro with purposeful steps, his unsheathed claws clicking on the metal floor. The lion walked around Shiro, sniffing him carefully, making two, three, four rounds before brushing his head against the man and allowing him to fix the collar around his neck. Shiro named him Night, and when he entered the command room Voltron was beaming.

“Well done, all of you,” he said. “You have all made a bond with your lion, but there is still plenty of room to grow it; that’s what these next few days aboard the _Alfor_ are for. Tomorrow, you will be moving your lions to their separate living areas. Now, however, it is dinner time.”

Lance blinked, surprised at how quickly the time had gone, and even more at the fact that he hadn’t noticed how hungry he was.

As they walked through the ship to the dining room, Lance grinned to himself; he had managed to make a bond with a lion, _his_ lion to train and take care of, _his_ Icer.

The rest of his life was about to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Bear with me if it's a while before the next chapter as I have other fics on the go and exams to revise for, but I will do my best to keep it coming.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! My Tumblr is kyshipssolangelo if you have any suggestions!


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